Human Religions (CCW)
Human religion is closely tied to nationalism, war, and empire. In most of the world, it is less a matter of personal faith than it is a marker of cultural identity and loyalty to the state. Religion pervades every aspect of human society, inexorably woven into power, history, and magic. The largest religious tradition, which encompasses nearly 65% of the human population, is Cosmaca, which arose from scattered philosophies on magical ethics and two thousand years of rebellion against the gods. Worshippers of those now fallen gods are collectively called Dalgun, though their varying pantheons share little in common. Religious conflict—first between the Dalgun and the Cosmacans, then amongst the Cosmacan denominations—is often considered the central drama of humanity’s narrative past and political present. Other religions with sizeable followings exist, though they are generally confined to their culture of origin. The notable exception is Compassica (Pacha), a proselytizing faith that in recent years has spread rapidly across the globe. Dalgun Main article: Dalgun Relgions “Our covenant, our glory” -Motto of the House of Orgud-Kimat Worship of the Immortals, who rescued the creatures of earth from demonic enslavement at the dawn of history. Since then, these gods have competed against each other in their patronage of various causes, nations, and peoples. Humankind, over the course of about 2000 years, rebelled against its gods in several wars and as of about 621 years ago, expelled or killed off all of them. Dalgun faiths are thus no longer dominant in human nations, and where they remain are considered backwards—the exceptions being Celtheste, Enekhe, and Mathsra, where they still retain large followings, widespread respect, and institutional power. Dalgun faiths differ greatly based on what god or pantheon is being worshipped, and Post Keaslios (the expulsion of the gods) faiths differ from their historical forms. In general Historical Dalgun faiths often revolve around seeking aid or protection from the gods through offerings and rituals, while Post-Keaslian faiths focus on devotion, behavior, and societal structure in anticipation of their return. There are five major Post-Keaslian faiths: The Devolved Pantheon Enekhe The Enekhite gods were one of the oldest and most powerful pantheons of the ancient order, and their people have remained fervently loyal to them, even after they were publicly executed by the Sunyan Empire and their bodies were dragged through the street. The religion now centers on a mystical veneration of their physical remains in anticipation of their foretold, apocalyptic return. House of Aden The Adenite gods, in a radical departure from their peers, renounced their godhood and became guardians of their House. After a storied age of rule, they departed the earth and handed authority over to their followers. Today a wide diaspora of Adenites continue their ancient tradition of civic-minded idealism and moral action, admired around the world for their spirit of charity and optimism in the face of persecution. The rise of a certain charismatic priestess in Rendland may threaten all that, however, as she calls to unite the church in a violent crusade to “make way for the return of the gods.” House of Ingair The Ingarians are worshippers of the Celthestan gods, especially the Spring goddess Cana, who some say abandoned Celtheste for its sins. Ingarianism is known as “the scholarly faith” for its fixation on searching old texts and oral traditions for a path towards redemption. There are two Ingarian denominations: the western Andinots and the eastern Dafinians, both of which ostensibly value the core tenets of “Land, King, and Harmony.” That is, a respect for nature and agrarian life, a deference to authority, and the promotion of harmony between many peoples. House of Ama-Nali The Cantican religion may be the last true Dalgun faith, though their patron, the ocean goddess Ami-Nali hasn’t been seen for years. Nevertheless, rituals, festivals, and ceremonies by the sea continue as they always have. The Church is synonymous with the state and admits only lifetime Canticans to its secretive Midnight Temples. What’s more, Canticans are somehow able to work a system of Enchantment, the likes of which supposedly died with the gods years ago. House of Orgud-Kimat The Mathsrian Immortal House, once the most powerful pantheon in the human world, was supposedly stamped out long ago by Makalan invaders, but with the recent resurgence of Mathsra, its old religion has been revived as well. Mathsrian leaders claim that they have found a way to resurrect their gods, and have been communicating with their spirits. Whether or not this is true, the nation has been whipped into an excited, alarming frenzy. Cosmaca Main Article: Cosmaca “We who killed our gods, must not become them.” -Book of the Wars What started as a system of ethics and philosophy for the proper use of magecraft has developed over the past thousand years into a full-fledged institutional religion with several denominations. Cosmaca, the “mage religion,” is a child of the Wars against the Gods, and its values reflect and antipathy towards the Immortals. Cosmaca is preoccupied with agnosticism and temperance, limiting the power of magic and the grip of doctrine for fear that humanity will become like the tyrants it rebelled against. These values have not prevented Cosmacans from turning on each other, sometimes over subtle theological issues. While hundreds of sects and branches exist, the major Cosmacan traditions do share core beliefs and practices. Namely, the existence of an indifferent higher order whose expression is experienced through the Four Fundamental Forces: cosmic, primal, ethereal, and civic. Cosmacans hold that the Forces are all encompassing and that our existence is a temporary moment in their interactions. With a few exceptions, Cosmacan worship takes place under domes or dome-like structures, ornamented with literal or figurative representations of the Four Fundamental Forces. The major denominations of Cosmaca are as follows: Keaslianism Keaslianism is arguably the oldest and largest Cosmacan faith, arising out of the Third War against the gods and originating the Western Cosmacan tradition. Its austere, martial mores are reflected in its simple stone domes, battle reliquaries, and somber ceremonies. Keaslians, like soldiers, are immersed in discipline and duty. Their holy book, the Book of the Wars, encourages active remembrance: of the tyranny of the gods, the valor of the Wars, the sacrifices of the dead, and each person’s humble place in the universe. While founded in Bauyuna and championed by Makala, the Church of Keaslior itself is incredibly international and highly decentralized. It believes in local consensus and the openness and universality of its message, though in practice it has become doctrinally homogenous, stagnant, and suspicious of outsiders. Aradnianism This Eastern Cosmacan faith, based mostly in Masslea and known also as Massleanism, has its roots in the very foundation of magecraft itself. Its holy texts, The Apologies, were written as a comprehensive code of ethics for the earliest generations of mages, back when it was a new form of magic. Gradually, the Apologies, along with the many institutions and customs associated with early magecraft, became codified into a full-fledged institutional religion. Like the University it emerged from, the House of Cosmic Apologies is highly bureaucratic, legalistic, and esoteric. Its classical domes are dark and stuffy, host to candlelit tents and scholarly processions, to the study and discussion of old documents and star charts. Massleans have elevated the cult of academia to a spiritual experience, worshipping knowledge and rationality while fetishizing mystery and tradition. Ablutionism Founded in the city of Dar Nal Emal in opposition to its Masslean overlords, Ablutionism is named for the religion’s only ritual practice: a daily washing of the hands, ears, and face. The exact meaning of the ritual is ambiguous, but it is generally undertaken as a communal act. Parents wash their children, friends wash friends, lovers and lovers. Occasionally, conflicts are even resolved in a rather intimate washing of enemy and enemy. Attempts to explain the ablution have been made, especially across erudite Rutalia, where the faith has become popular. But at home in Dar-Ness, Ablutionism remains dedicated to its core tenet of unknowability. It is the agnostic faith, the House of Fools and Beggars. It claims no secret knowledge or great wisdom. There are no teachers or hierarchies in the faith, only servants and charities. There is no pretension, no deliberation. Only action. Santolianism This state church of Capaliso broke from the Keaslians during the Cosmacan Wars after the assassination of their beloved prophet and reformer, Santolio. A frail, cross-eyed former slave, Santolio claimed to have encountered the origin of Truth in the belly of a god. He preached that Truth was not a philosophical or practical pursuit, as the Massleans and Keaslians believed, but something that was inherent and tangible in the universe. So when his followers took over the Capalesian Senate, they did away with scholars and assemblies in favor of priests and augurs. Morality would no longer be manufactured by committees, but divined through ecstatic spiritual experience. As it springs from the dreams and impulses of the Capalesian people, Santolionism has evolved over the years—its energies shifting from flowering progressive reform to bitter xenophobia to an apocalyptic project of voracious global colonialism. Humanity, believes this newest wave of Santolians, is in danger of extinction and only Capaliso can save it. Marisianism Known also as the Church of Sunya, or the Church of the Vermillion Bird, the Marisian faith is synonymous with the Sunyan Empire and its absolute monarch. It was the first Nameless Emperor who, following the example of the Capalesians during the Cosmacan Wars, renounced the Keaslian Church and established his own religion—one that would be firmly within his control. The theology of Marisianism comes from a preacher named Sen-Maring who believed in the embrace of death and the abolition of ego as the inevitable path to transformation. But the doctrine of the Church has always been secondary to its trappings and traditions, which are thoroughly Sunyan: an indulgence in symbolism and ornament, a near deification of the Emperor, and most importantly, a drastic divide between the landed and landless classes. While the landed gather to sing in ornate domes with painted ceilings, the landless are called to work and contemplate in small, damp greenhouses. Nestorianism The Nestorian, or Astorian Church, was born out of a series of peace talks in Western Celtheste, aimed at preventing the spread of the hyper-violent Cosmacan Wars. Attempting to synthesize both Dalgun and Cosmacan beliefs into a universal set of values, a motley group of priests, diplomats, and sorcerers unintentionally created a new religion. Nestorianism was soon adopted by the Empire of Dalcerannea. The faith is considered blasphemous by many of the Western denominations, most notably because it acknowledges the gods as something more than invasive aliens, even incorporating them into their theology as “Pure Beings.” And some Astorians have done away with Cosmacan domes altogether, in favor of open air gardens (Garths) that harken back to pagan roots. Other Faiths Main Article: Minority Religions Compassic Faith (Pacha) Pacha was originally a religion of the Druids, adopted by the Potecanese, but its popularity is now gaining rapidly across the rest of the human world. To the dismay of the established state religious institutions, the Compassic Faith rejects all political loyalties in favor of intensely personal belief. Across the Empires, Compassics are gathering in homes and ruins, sharing meals and proselytizing. Compassics believe that this life is but one stage in a series of struggles, from which we must learn and prepare for a final reckoning. The “Ninth Trial,” as it is called, will determine one’s place in the World of True Being—as a god or a beast. Compassics are guided through their Trials by a personal deity, called a Koda, with whom they develop an intimate relationship. Great Mother of Hylicarus This Lycarian and Rutalian faith is the only monotheistic religion in the human world—a very old faith that has managed to survive both Dalgun and Cosmacan onslaught over thousands of years. Followers of the faith believe in Umi, the Great Mother of Light; the omnipotent and omnipresent, all loving goddess. She is locked in an eternal battle with Vetra, the Mother of Lies, from whom all earthlings are descended. Only the strong, Lycarians believe, will overcome their shameful parentage and prove themselves worthy of Umi’s embrace. Tasmor Pantheism The Tasmor have no priests or kings—or rather, they are all priests and kings, along with every stone, tree, and creature. In their words: “we all have rule over each other.” There are no Tasmor institutions either, or any real distinction between the religious sphere and their daily lives. The Tasmor religion, like the Tasmor culture itself, may even predate the gods. Though it is a very minor religion, practiced only in a small and remote part of the world, its influence on both early Mage philosophy and a new wave of secular spiritualism cannot be understated. Nayadan Nayadan is a religious tradition of Sayrowyn, practiced by both humans and Strangers for nearly six thousand years. Outside its base on the subcontinent, adherents are found in moderate numbers across the globe, across nearly all cultures and races. It is the only faith with such universal status, and is generally lauded for its peaceful and tolerant message. Followers of Nayadan speak and study Nayaday, a language exclusive to the faith. Known for its massive, nearly 1.5 million word vocabulary, Nayaday is the vehicle for Nayadan’s core belief—that giving a name to something releases it from the physical coil and into the spiritual plane. Practicing the religion involves daily meditations and recitations, on the unspoken snares within yourself, of the names that will detach and free you from them.